Router Problems – Follow Up

On Thursday 10-18-07 I posted a router problem question and received several responses concerning a loss of network connectivity which seems to require a reboot of the router or turning the router completely off before doing a reboot of the hardware. [See original article here.]

The comments I received were:

Sponge_of_Doom

I had a DI624 prior to my Linksys 54gl. The 624 would reset itself all the time for no apparent reason. This would cause it to drop the wireless connection and in some cases it would take a computer reboot to get the connection back. This was about a year or more ago and there were reports all over of this issue.

In my experience it was generally flaky, but not in fatal kind of way. It would work great for a while, then start resetting itself. I finally gave up and got the Linksys instead. That thing, with the Thibor firmware replacement has been rock solid for me ever since.

And also:

mhz

My experience with home routers is not so recent; the last action was ~2 years ago. I work in an IT shop, and between my friends here and I, we have set up many home networks using cheap wireless routers, both before and after wireless was available. I’ve used several such as DLink, Linksys and SMC (from 4 to 8 port), and heard have friends who have used many more. It has always been my experience that they tend to lock up, reboot, etc. periodically. It may have to do with heat, and it definitely is sometimes fixed by firmware updates. I think that they are usually shipped to store shelves without much QC testing. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t had to power them off/on once in a while to get them active again.

When you call for technical support for either a DSL or Cable connectivity issue the first thing the tech. will have you do is to turn off and reboot the modem and router. This will sometime cure the problem and restore your network connection. But as I explained in another article, I was having a problem with Windows XP not releasing an IP address on my laptop hardware which required additional problem solving techniques.

So yesterday when I got another call from my friend concerning a loss of connection, I did some further checking. First the firmware had the latest update from DLink. But what I noticed was that my friend had the cable modem sitting on top of the router. When I arrived both were on and in picking up the cable modem, noticed how hot it was. Not fry an egg kind of hot. But toasty hot. The top of the Dlink router was toasty hot as well. After letting both units cool a bit, I rebooted and the network was back up and running.

Besides the modem sitting on top of the router, my friend has the units inside of a roll top desk. The units remain on at night and my friend closes the desktop as well for aesthetics. The units also sit under a shelf with absolutely no air circulation since the back of the desk is entirely closed. This could explain why the DLink router works fine at my home and not his. I separated the units and placed them side by side instead.

I thought I would just pass this on in case others have a similar type problem and stack their units in an enclosed space.